Strong Enough to Break
by mara-isamoose
Summary: AU - This is Dean's first year free of the reaping. So when Sam's name is called and Dean can't volunteer for him, Sam goes into the arena. But will sweet Sammy be able to kill the other tributes? Or will he lose the games?
1. Chapter 1

The early morning rays were creeping through the small window, casting a blue glow over the room. Dean glared outside towards the offending source of light. It wasn't welcome here. Not when it brought with it the new day. Any other day would be fine, but not this one.

_Reaping day._

Dean unconsciously wrapped his arms tighter around his brother lying next to him. This was Dean's first year free of the reaping. Having turned nineteen in January, he wouldn't have his name in the pool at all. But Sam on the other hand...

Dean sighed. Sam was fourteen, but the little bitch had nagged and nagged until Dean agreed to let him claim a tesserae. This was only the first year he had to because Dean had been the one to support the family by claiming them. Since he could no longer provide that way, Sam had volunteered to take up that role. Dean had been against it at first, but as the weeks went on, the skinnier they all became. And Dean couldn't stand sending Sam to bed hungry. The kid was growing like a weed. He was almost as tall as Dean now.

As he looked down at Sam, all curled up beside him, he couldn't help but feel this horrible, cold feeling.

'_It's not going to be Sam. His name is only in there six times. It's not going to be him.'_ Dean reminded himself. He couldn't bear it if Sam's name was called. While Sam could hold his own in a fight, he hated it. Dean smiled as he pushed Sam's bangs away from his face. The kid wouldn't let him come near him with a pair of scissors.

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, Dean knew he had to get up. He had recently been hunting outside the fence with another guy named Castiel. Cas, as Dean called him, was a really great hunter. Together, they kept their families fed. They usually met every morning in the woods and stayed out for a couple of hours and they brought in fair game too. They could get a couple of squirrels, and sometimes they even could get a doe. And they always picked berries for a desert. When they could find them they would bring back berries for dessert.

Reluctantly, Dean slipped out from underneath his brother and slipped his boots on. Sam scrunched his face as if he was waking up, but then settled. Grabbing his hunting knife, Dean walked out the door as quietly as possible.

He met Cas in the usual spot. About a mile from the fence that surrounded the district there was a small clearing. The two of them would sit there and talk sometimes, occasionally sharing food.

Cas was a really great guy. He was the youngest of his family, but he was still three years older than Dean. Cas' brother Lucifer had been reaped into the twenty-ninth games, and had lost. Their family hadn't been the same since. Nothing is ever the same for those who lost children to the games.

Dean walked into the clearing, seeing Cas already sitting down and overlooking the trees below them.

"Hey" Dean greeted. Cas turned his head to see him and nodded.

"Missouri gave us some fresh bread. It's delicious, have some." Cas broke a piece off and offered it to him. Dean sat down beside the older man and took the offered bread. It was still warm. Dean's lips pulled into a smile at the thought of the woman.

Missouri had taken a liking to Sam instantly back when they first met her. It was a couple of months after Mary had died and John had shut down. He hardly spoke, hardly ate, and rarely slept. Dean, who was only eight at the time, was left to take care for not only himself but his little brother and father. They ran out of food fast. With John not working, Dean started trading things with people down at the market. A lot of them took pity on him and gave him a good deal. Once he had brought Sammy with him, and Dean used Sam's adorable face and powerful puppy-dog eyes to get more food. It was easier with Sam around. He was so scrawny that no one could say no to him.

When Missouri found out what they were doing, she went and had a talk with John. She was able to get him to snap out of his funk. John started working again, but Missouri always made sure that the boys were fed. She was like family.

"You're worried." Cas broke the silence between them. Dean simply nodded. "Well, don't worry too much. His name is only in there six times, Dean. You had your name in there over forty and you were never called."

Dean looked over at Cas and saw the sincere concern on his face. Castiel knew Sam very well. Some days when Sam joined them, Cas would teach Sam about the different kinds of berries; which ones were sweeter, which ones were poisonous, and when the berries were ripe for picking.

"I know, but I still have a bad feeling about it. I shouldn't have let him talk me into letting him claim tesseraes." He hung his head. A hand on his shoulder brought it back up.

"He was just doing what his big brother would do. Taking care of his family in anyway he could. You should be proud of him."

"I _am_ proud of him!" Dean said sharply. Cas' hand fell from his shoulder. "I just..." his voice was quieter this time. "I just hate that he _has_ to help out in the first place. It shouldn't be like this. People shouldn't be starving!"

"I know, and I agree with you. It's not fair. But there's nothing we can do." Cas sighed. "What the Capitol has done, what they're _doing_, none of it is fair." Silence passed between them, neither knowing what to say.

"We should get back. Sam will be up soon." Dean stood up and brushed the bread crumbs from his shirt. "Still hunting tomorrow?"

Castiel nodded. "I'll stop by after the reaping with food. For now," he handed Dean the rest of the bread. "Take this home and have a good breakfast with your family." He roughly patted him on the shoulder as he walked away. Dean thanked him and began his trek home.

On his way back, he stopped by and thanked Missouri personally for the bread. She, in turn, had given him a small bag of raspberries knowing they were Sam's favorite and made Dean promise to give Sam a big hug from her.

John's head snapped up as Dean came through the door. "Dean" It wasn't really a greeting, more like a sigh of relief.

Picking up on his father's mood, Dean threw his game sack by the door and gave him a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

John sighed. "Sam had a nightmare again. He was pretty upset, but he won't talk to me about it. I think he might tell you..." he rubbed a calloused hand over his face. "How was... your outing?" He tilted his head towards the bread in Dean's hand.

"Missouri gave it to us." Dean explained quickly, walking past his father towards Sam and his room. "Where's Sam?"

"He's outside." John called to him. After nodding his thanks, Dean grabbed the berries and went back outside.

"Sam?" he called for his little brother when he didn't see him right away. "Sam, where are you?"

"Over here." a quiet voice said from his left. Dean walked around the house to find his little brother sitting against the wall, knees to his chest, picking at the grass around his bare feet. "You didn't tell me you were leaving this morning." Sam didn't look up at his brother, keeping his head bowed.

Dean sat down beside him and put an arm around his shoulders. "I know, but you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you up." He looked down at Sam and pulled his chin up with his free hand. Dean frowned at the redness of Sam's eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Sam leaned into his big brother's embrace. "I dreamt it again." he said so quietly, Dean almost didn't hear it. He squeezed Sam tighter to his side. "But this time, they didn't let me say goodbye to you. And when I was in the arena, I didn't have any weapons. It was awful."

Dean rubbed his hand up and down on Sam's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sammy. I'm sorry I wasn't here this morning either, but I saw Missouri and she gave me something for you." He had to suppress a smile at the hopeful look on Sam's face.

"What is it?" Instead of answering him, Dean just held out the small pouch. Sam took it and looked inside. He smiled big when he reached in and pulled out a single raspberry. "Do you want one, Dean?" He held one out.

"No squirt, they're yours."

Sam shook his head. "They're _ours_."

Dean chuckled. "Come on, Cas gave me some bread too. Fresh bread." Sam stared at him excitedly.

"Really?" Sam asked excitedly and Dean nodded. The boys walked inside to find John already setting the table up with their plates. He smiled at his sons and then he gave a nod towards Dean, silently thanking him for taking care of Sam. Dean answered with his own nod.

"Dad! Dad! Look what Missouri gave us!" Sam exclaimed while holding the bag open so that John could see the berries.

"Those look delicious! You'll have to thank her later. Now go wash up, boys. It's time to eat." Sam placed the berries on the table and ran to wash up.

Dean cut the bread up in equal slices while Sam divided up the berries. Together, they ate and talked about anything other than later that day.

"Sam, Jim Murphy was asking me if you'd be interested in helping him out. His chickens eggs hatched and he's got a lot of new chicks. Do you think you'd want to help him out?" John asked around a mouthful of bread.

"I'd love to!" Sam was spreading more raspberry jam over his bread. "Hey, Dean? I was hoping I could come with you and Cas tomorrow to get Missouri some more berries and fresh herbs. Would that be okay?"

Placing his glass of water down on the table, Dean answered. "I don't see why not. I'm sure Missouri would be grateful. Maybe we could even-" The rest of Dean's sentence was cut short by a loud chime, signaling the time of the reaping had come. He looked at Sam and saw the barely contained fear in his eyes. Dean rested his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Let's just get ready." Sam shakily nodded and excused himself from the table.

Sam emerged a few minutes later wearing a hand-me-down dress shirt from Dean, and his best pair of pants. The shirt was a little big for him but it wasn't like they could afford anything else. "Okay, I'm ready." Sam clapped his arms against his sides.

Dean gave him a once over and shook his head. Sam let out an indignant "What?" and Dean smirked.

"Have you seen your mop you call hair? Go comb it." Sam answered with a bitch-face and an eye roll, but walked back to their bathroom anyway. Soon after Sam had combed his hair, they were out the door.

They mixed in with other families on their way. No one was in a social mood. Everyone walked in silence. As they got closer to the Square, more and more colorful banners littered the buildings, but no one was festive. John gave Sam a small hug before he slipped off to join the crowds of parents.

Dean placed both hands on Sam's shoulders and he leaned forward, touching his forehead to Sam's for a brief moment before pulling back and looking him in the eye. "You're gonna be fine. You go sign in, stand in line, then you come find me, okay?" Sam nodded, not trusting his voice. Dean patted his cheek twice and smiled at Sam before turning to leave.

Sam took a deep breath as Dean walked away. He would be fine. '_My name is only in there six times, it's not going to be me.'_ he told himself. Sam made his way to the check-in line. They pricked his finger and confirmed his name, and then he was ushered to the fourteen year old boys section.

While everyone else was still filing in, he got his first look at the stage. The mayor, Joshua, was already seated next to Bobby, the only district twelve victor so far. He noticed all the cameras around, broadcasting the whole ordeal to everyone in the Capitol. Sam tried his best not to scowl at them.

Before he knew it, Naomi, the district's escort, was walking across the stage to take her seat. Mayor Joshua got up and walked to the podium. Everyone quieted down to hear him even though more than half the crowd could recite his speech. It was the same every year. He told the story of the thirteen districts, how one of them tried to rise above everyone else, bringing a great war among the people. The Capitol prevailed and District Thirteen was annihilated. As punishment, every year, each district sends two tributes to compete in the Hunger Games, one boy and one girl. He finished by introducing our sole victor, Bobby Singer, and then gave the stage to Naomi. She walked across the stage and stood at the podium. After clearing her throat she forced happy tone.

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, happy Hunger Games!" Not a soul claped; everyone remained silent. Naomi pursed her lips before plastering on another smile and carrying on. "Let's find out who this year's tributes will be, shall we? Ladies first," Naomi walked over to the first crystal bowl and stuck her hand in to pull slip out. Every parent with a daughter held their breath as she broke the seal and read the name aloud.

"Joanna Harvelle!"

All eyes turned towards the group of thirteen year girls, towards the little blonde girl with her head down and fists clinched at her sides, fighting tears. Joanna raised her head and began her long walk to the stage. From the crowd everyone heard what could only be the pained sobs from her mother. But she stayed strong, and didn't look back, didn't falter at all. She reached the stage, shook hands with everyone and took her place besides Naomi. Her mother's cries soon died off.

Naomi smiled at the girl. "Let's give a big round of applause!" she started clapping, but no one joined in. Naomi sighed and walked to the other crystal bowl. She grabbed a slip and went back to the podium. Sam couldn't breathe; he couldn't hear anything over the pounding in his ears, but he heard the next name loud and clear.

"_Samuel Winchester."_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hi! So I got an awesome response to the first chapter and I am blown away by it. I wanted to let you know that I will be finishing this story. I can't promise regular updates, but I can promise updates. Also, I just want to take a quick second to thank a few people:

Dean - For being my bro and awesome beta

Jensen - For being a great friend and an awesome beta

Faith - For encouraging me to write this and being an awesome friend

My Panda - For being my Hunger Games expert

Paula - For also encouraging me to write this

and also The Arthurian Prat's Folly for leaving me the nicest, most encouraging review I've ever gotten.

Thank you all so, so much. I love you all! :)

* * *

All eyes turned to Sam who still had his head down. '_No, no, no, no, no_' was running through his head. '_This can't be happening._'

"Samuel? Samuel Winchester! Come on down! We haven't got all day, son." Naomi said. All the boys around Sam cleared a path around him. As soon as she laid eyes on the one boy who hadn't moved, she smiled. "Come now, sweetie. You're our winner! You've been chosen to represent your district in the Ga-"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by an angry yell.

Everyone around Dean moved back from around him. His hands were shaking in barely contained fury. John tried to put his hand on his shoulder just to have it violently shrugged off. "No!" He yelled.

John grabbed his shoulder again not as gently and harshly whispered in his ear.

"Son, you can't do this. You're not eligible anymore. You have to let him go." Dean barely looked at him, the complete and utter despair plain on his face. The Dean locked eyes with his brother.

Sam did his very best to keep a neutral face, but when he heard his brother he turned fearful eyes towards him. Sam knew nothing could be done for him but he refused to let Dean get in trouble for his outburst. So he took a deep breath and gave his best encouraging smile to Dean and nodded, almost jarring loose the tears that he refused to let fall.

The walk towards the stage felt like it went on for miles. But maybe it was just his shaky legs. Once he was on stage, Naomi grabbed his shoulder and guided him to his spot. Apparently he was taking longer than she would have liked.

"Well, we have our tributes!" She shouted in the microphone. Then speaking only to Sam and Jo, "Now shake hands, you two." She smiled a sickeningly sweet. Ignoring the churning in his gut, Sam extended his hand to the girl, who in turn gripped his hand with a little too much force. They shook once then released each other's hands.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen, and happy Hunger Games!"

With that, the kids were ushered into the Justice Building and separated again. Sam was led to a very nice sitting area. There was a very large couch and several comfy looking chairs. He ran his fingers over the fabric and was surprised at how soft it felt. He let his body sink into one, amazed at how comfortable this was. It almost brought a smile to his lips.

The door was thrown open and before it even hit the wall, Sam was up on his feet and enveloped in a crushing hug. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Dean and squeeze back for all he was worth.

"You can't go, Sammy. I can't let you go. This isn't right. It wasn't supposed to be _you_!" Sam was confused as he felt a warm, wet spot on his shoulder underneath Dean's face. He barely registered John's arms wrap around both of them. Finally, Sam found his voice.

"It's okay Dean. It's gonna be okay." It would have been more convincing had his voice not cracked. He wanted to sound confident for Dean. He had be strong. Sam almost lost his composure once he realized Dean was shaking, but regained it at the last second. He pushed Dean back so he could speak to him. It felt like a punch to the gut to see Dean's face red from crying. He looked at his father too, smiling sadly at both of them.

"It's okay. You'll be okay, Dean." The weak smile did nothing to boost Dean's confidence. He wiped angrily at his eyes, embarrassed. Dean opened his mouth to speak again when a peacekeeper came in the room, telling them their time was up. John tried talking to him, asking for more time and Dean took his chance. He reached behind his neck and grabbed the cord holding the charm Sam had given him years ago. He slid it over Sam's shaking head.

"No, Dean. It's yours. I can't take it."

"I'm not giving it to you. You have to bring this back to me, you hear? I want it back." He rested his forehead against Sam's and closed his eyes. "Come back to me, Sammy. Please come back to me... Okay?" He whispered.

"I promise." Sam answered.

The peacekeeper was done with pleasantries now. He grabbed Dean's arm and forcefully removed him from the room. Sam never broke eye contact with his brother until he was out of sight.

"You win, Sam! You have to come ba-"

Then he was gone and the door was shut once again and that's when he let the first tear fall. More followed and he brought his hands to his face, trying to reign in his emotions again. He didn't even hear the door open again.

"Sam?" Castiel's quiet voice got his attention. Sam's head shot up in surprise. Seeing the tears in the young boy's eyes, Castiel walked to Sam and hugged him tight. "It's okay, Sam."

"I'm scared, Cas..." Castiel's heart broke at the statement.

Sam cried into Castiel's shoulder. He couldn't do it; couldn't be strong like Dean needed him to be. Instead, he let himself be comforted by Castiel's presence for a moment. Then he pulled back and wiped at his eyes.

"You can't tell Dean. Don't tell him I'm scared, Cas." He sniffled. Castiel kept a hand on his shoulder, rubbing up and down, trying to give what little comfort he could. "You have to promise to make sure he doesn't do something stupid and get himself arrested."

A sad smile pulled up one corner of Castiel's mouth. "I will. But you have to promise to fight, Sam. You can't just hide."

"I-I can't. I don't want to hurt anybody..."

"I know, but you have to come home. The only way to do that is to win; the only way to win is to fight. I know you know how. And you know how to survive. You can do this, Sam. Look at me." Castiel placed a hand on the side of Sam's face and waited for Sam to look him in the eyes. "You have a good chance of winning this. You're more than capable. So make Dean proud."

"Okay..." Sam nodded and wiped the last of his tears away.

Another peacekeeper came in and announced that Castiel's time was up. With one last hug, Sam was left alone. A few minutes later the same peacekeeper came in and escorted Sam outside and into a car. When he asked where they were heading, he received no answer. Sam spent the entire ride staring out the window at the empty streets. All the people were gone, at home celebrating another year that their children were spared.

Sam closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the cold window. He tried to picture his house, the room he shared with Dean, his school, all of his friends, trying to remember every detail. He was afraid that this would be the last time he would ever see his home.

The car came to a stop. When Sam opened his eyes and realized they were at the train station. "Should have guessed."

The train they boarded was nothing short of spectacular. The dining car had a large table that had all sorts of different and delicious looking foods on it. Sam's stomach churned at the thought of food right now. He saw Bobby and Jo stop talking to look at him. He muttered a quiet '_Sorry'_ and sat down. His mind drifted back to home. If he were there, he and his family would be sitting down to eat dinner together with Castiel like they did every year after the reaping.

"_Sam?_" He snapped his head up at the gruff voice. "Are you even listening, boy?"

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

Bobby sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to teach you how to survive in that arena. There's going to be more than just tributes that you'll have to worry about. They're going to throw in monsters. Black dogs, corcotta, shapeshifters, hell, maybe even wendigos. You kids need to know what you're up against."

Sam and Jo exchanged confused glances. Jo spoke up first. "What's a corcotta?"

The food was forgotten and the rest of the evening was spent talking about different monsters and their strengths and weaknesses. Bobby even pulled a few books out for them to look over. Sam took them back to his room that night. The things he read terrified him. Most of these monsters could take on human forms or imitate voices. '_As if worrying about the other tributes killing me wasn't enough, now I have to worry about monsters.'_ Sam didn't sleep much at all that night.

-o0O0o-

_Sam was running as fast as he could. Someone was chasing him. He made the mistake of looking behind him and tripped over a tree root, landing hard on his chest. He couldn't hear anything between his harsh breathing and the blood roaring through his ears. Then out of nowhere he heard a snap off to his right. _

_A painful yell was ripped from his throat when an arrow buried itself in his shoulder. Another arrow was released and found its way to his leg. Sam crawled backwards as fast as he could, until his back hit a tree._

_Gordon Walker, male tribute from district two, stepped out the shadows. He smiled cruelly as he readied another bow and aimed for Sam's heart. Sam screwed his eyes shut, knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop what was coming. "I'm sorry Dean..." He whispered._

_The cannon fired when Sam took his last breath._

"NOOO!" Dean woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. It took him a moment too long to realize that it was just another nightmare. Sam was still alive. Dean closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, trying to calm his breathing down.

"Dean? You okay, son?" John stood in the doorway of the boys' room; he obviously hadn't been sleeping either.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry if I woke you." Dean threw an apologetic glance at his father. "I just..." He swallowed.

"I know, me too." John nodded. He walked over and sat down next to Dean, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "He's going to be okay though. Sam is a strong kid." He squeezed Dean tighter. "Now try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." John patted him on the shoulder then stood up and walked out of the room.

Dean looked at the clock. In just a few short days Sam would be in the arena. His stomach rolled as he thought of watching Sam step off the plate and into the arena.

"Be careful, Sammy." He whispered to the empty room.

* * *

**A/N:** So? Is it still okay? If you have the time, please leave me a review. They seriously make my day. Just a few reminders about this story: it's only tagged with Hunger Games because of the 'verse they're in. There won't be any rebellion or anything. Only one victor as well. You'll notice similarities between characters, but you get the point. Also, I won't be putting any romance in here. Sorry to all the Destiel shippers. I want this story focused on Sammy hurt and angst and Dean angst :) But Cas is going to be a huge part in helping Dean through this. Anyways, please leave a review and I'll have a chapter up as soon as possible! :D


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